Means and method for separating lint fibers from cotton seeds and cleaning lint fibers by air washing



July 27, 1943. P. HOPPER 2,325,183 MEANS AND METHOD FOR SEPARATING LINTFIBERS FROM COTTON SEEDS AND CLEANING LINT FIBRES BY AIR WASHING FiledOct. 13, 1941 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I "1' 1 E15 I I Passey g ue/ ENTOR.

July 27, 1943'. P. E. HQPP 2,325,183

FOR SEPAR ATING' L T FIBERS FROM COTTON LEANING LINT FIBRES BY AIRWASHING Filed Oct. 13, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MEANS AND METHOD SEEDSAND OPress/4:31.13. Zipper,

. I INVENTOR.

Patented July 27, 1943 was AND METHOD FOR SEPARATING LINT Frnnns EnoMoorroN SEEDS AND;

CLEANING new; means BY AIR WASHING Pressley l larl Hopper, Dallas, Ten.

Application ,Qotober 13, 1341, Serial No. 4145826 5 Claims. (01.219-762) This invention has reference to vthe ginning of cotton, but itrelates more particularly to a means a small threads between the seeds.Bothgthe mencarried in the sample and the roping or twisting k greatlyreduce the value, therefore the method of air-Washing the sampleand-thus eliminating the machiningoi the sample is'most desirabie in theginning process.

"This same thing-applies on shorter varieties" and more especially inthe areas Where cotton is snapped and. separation made at ,theiginsinstead-of hand picking. Many plants are (unable to effect a thoroughcleaning zbeiore theflcotton is fed into the seed rolls and this methodor cleaning the trashirom the sample inthe inning process Will be mostvaluable on allyarietiesoi cotton where this method of gathering .is empoyed. Y Y

- A survey of results in the snap cottonareasreveals that the betterstaple varieties vusuallyirun so low in grade because of inability ,toremove the trash in the preparation that manytimesiilm shorterstaplecotton ,-,actually-ig ives greater areturns to-the grower inspitei-Qfthepremiums gfQI better staple cotton ofequal-rgrade.

In the conventional gin, the vonly means pro,-

vided for the removal of trash isibylcentrifugal force'or speed ofthesawsion air+blast gins :and

the same action by the saws and brush Where brushes are used instead. of.the air-nozzle. Neither of these is positive 'because much of theextraneous matter is so nearly the same weight as the fibers that itcannot loo-dislodged inethis manner. With the method of air-washing, thetrashfcannotl escape removal because ofritslight weight.

Where cott content-it is next to impossible to-reniovethepi-n and leaftrash by conventional cleaning methods 01 motin'g; since thisxcondition;is more prevalent in the delta and other-areasiwhere the better staplesare produced, itisve-ry desirable to have a positive :means .ofjtrashremoval-1m spite ,its passagefrlomitherollbox.

a I A iurthe'rpobject of the; -invention is the .provi sion of vsuch agin rib construction whereby an of reducing moisture content of thefinished fibers.

In accordance fore one of theobj e'cts of this invention to provide acotton gin rib construction having a step 7 off or ofi-set'on the uppersurface of the rib .or"

ribs adjacent the point where-the .gin-sawteeth pass-between theribsvan'dcout of the, rol-lbox. Another .object of the .inventioniis theprovisionof'a' gin rib. construction having .a ld'uct .or sham;- nel (ora plurality of ducts s01- 'lchamiels therein,

whereby air may be injected .ei-ther througheor between the :gin ribsagainst thezgin saw teeth or v contiguous thereto and Vin-la,redirection opposite the rotation :of .the .ginxsaw teeth, in theremoval of'itrash' from .thecotton fibersand preve ting air'streami orstreams'is. or areydirected against and/or contiguous .to the iginlsawteeth ,inga; die

rectionthe reverse of ;thei.-trave1:of,thegin say/ls,

.wherebyiany cotton fibers not securely. held byzt'he in saw teeth will.be' dislodged bysaid air stream or streams heldlwithinetheseed .rolL,The advantages attained-areeliminatibnof loss pf fiber and betterjandcleanercotton sample as the fibers vare therebystraightened:andcornbedbytheaircun- V rent. v

An ther adv ta e attained bv thi nvention r is that of prevent ng cot onSeed in'gth sin rol rom 11mi s p l ed into th crot h s, r 'pa9ine betwen h sin ribsbyth saw teeth an at ached fibers by keeping the cotton seedsuspended abo the to su f ce 50f t lib i tbear he e the, s n t et a s bew enthe sin irlbsando o-fth rr l b x- 1 on carries a relativelyhighmoisture 1 removedbv brush orairvnozzla, 1

' The drawings accompanying this specification i illustrate-a meanswhereby the above obj ects and advantages may ;be carried out, 1 and rithe .Ano h rtad anta e accom shedbvt eprsent in en i 5 -;that ofdirectin hi h iveloc ty s eamer S ams ,Q he ted air throu h the sin ribsinuthe removal .;of itrasn'as previously outlined, and to remove'moistureifrom itlieilintv'fibers before theyare taken fr ointheseedroll, and torso apply heat, directlygto'thegin saw teeth'injorder tanthe fiber ma be ore readily and v as y d awing '7 I figure, 1 is a,fra mentary view in. elevationnf fl agin lib-constructed; inaccordance; with i this. in;-

of; the moisture content," and also: to fhavegnieans 55 vention, andillustrating -.in' :section I partofthe tgimribggin. rib: breast;air-inlet, duo :dotted indication ur ne-r011. box; 1""

with-the preceding; it is there;

Figure 2 is a sectional detail view on line 2-2 of the gin ribconstruction shown in Figure 3,

the latter figure illustrating a modification of the gin rib and breastformation, and being taken on the line 33 of Figure 4; V r V Figure 4 isa detail fragmentary view of the 7 front edge of one of the gin ribs;

Figure 5 is a detail view in fragmentary side elevation of a gin saw andgin rib showing the efiect of the air stream in dislodging trash and thelike from the cotton'lint carried on the gin saw;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view partly in section ofanother. variation of the gin rib;

Figure 7 is a view similar to that of Figure 1,

is shown a gin rib l with an ofi-set' portion 2, the ribs beingassembled in customaryspaced relation with a battery of gin saws 3 and aroll box indicated by broken linesat 4. The upper end or 'ends 5 of theribs are connected as shOWnsto a gin breastelement 6, the latterabeingbored at 7 for the passage of an air stream conducted from asuitable-source through the pipe 8 in the direction of the arrows. Inthis form of rib construction the rib is channeled or bored to provide'apassage indicated at!) which is in line with the inlet or bowl and thepassage -9 has two tributaries or ducts l9; .It will be noted that thegin breast or element 6 has a slight rearward inclination in order thatthe air stream upon striking the off-set or step-off 2 will be directedin the direction of the plurality of arrows along or contiguous tothesaw teeth andas indicated in Figure 5 the trash or extraneous matter Awill be thrown back into the roll box 4 with the seed and prevented frompassage between the ribs, and the lint'indicated at L held on the sawteeth will be allowed to pass. vThe off-set tends to keep the cottonseed-suspended abovethe top surface of the ribs While'the fiberunder'the action of the high velocity air streams in the passage 1 andthe bore 9 and ducts l0 and held on the saws is subjected to a thoroughcleaning and straightthe case of long staple cotin the former instance.The breast element 6 has a forward tilt and the bore 9 more downwardlyinclined and curved slightly at 9a.'

In Figure 6 is shown another variation of the gin rib construction, thebreast 6 being further inclined forwardly, the air entering atl3 andpassing through the bore- 9--a which as will be noted is almostperpendicular or vertical, and the rib is curved outwardly as at l5,whereby the air stream will be directed more-upwardly. In Figure 7 thebreast elementB-is tilted'slightly rearwardly and the rib in this formis applicable to nozzle application, theair entering through andby meansof the nozzle l6 and; into .thebore .9 "b;which is but illustrating afurther modification of the gin I an I brought almost directly verticalat its output end or termination and the air is directed in thedirection of the arrows there shown. From Figure 8 (an edge view takenfrom the rear of Figure 7) it willbe seen that the bore 9b has adivisional partition 9e whereby the air stream is split intwo-tributaries, thus subjecting the saw teeth to the action of the airalong the entire length of the bore or bores of the tributaries 9b. InFigure 7 the double passage or bore formation projects rearwardly fromthe upper end of the rib form where it is attached to the breast; but inFigure 9the double passage formation 9--b is in line with therear'surface of the part la of Y the rib.

From the foregoing it will b apparent that the disclosure presents anovel means and method for cleaning and otherwise improving the cottonsample and aid in the ginning of the cotton by the use of highvelocityair currents in the regular ginning methodrather than by endeavoring -toeliminate trash and extraneous matter by moting methods. The presentmethod and means here disclosed differs from all methods now being usedin the cleaning of trash from the'lint fiber in that it does not embodyany change in the regular method .of feeding cotton into the'seed rollbox or of controlling th discharge of the finished seed. It furtherdiifers from all moting methods in that by this means any fibers notsecurely held by the ginning saw teeth will be dislodged by the airstream and held within the seed roll box, being recovered by the ginningsaw teeth,' thereby eliminating any loss of fiber in the moting method.r i It is believed that the foregoing explanation will be sufiicient toenable anyone to understand the operationv of the invention withoutfurther discussion. It is to be understood, also, that the disclosuredoes not limit the invention to the precise means herein shown asvarious types of ducts and'nozzles may be employed. The disclosure ofthe several types 'of rib construction air ducts and nozzles may bevaried to any extent in keeping with the principle of the invention andwhich will be within the, scope and range of the following claims. I

What is claimed is:

a 1. In a cotton gin including a roll box, a gin rib constructioncomprising in combinationwith a plurality ofgin saws, a plurality of ginribs, a rail to which the gin ribs are secured, said rail having apassage for air under pressure, the upper portions of the gin ribshaving one or more passages in open communication with the passage insaid rail and terminating into ducts opening into the rollbox adjacentto and between the gin saws, and means for supplying air under pressurethrough said passages or ducts into the roll box and against thesaws ina direction opposite to the rotation of the gin saws thereby removingtrash from the cotton on the saws.

' 2. A gin rib construction as claimed in claim 1,,

wherein the terminating ducts of the'gin rib passages have openings inangular relation to the passages in the ribs, whereby the air-isdirected outwardly and upwardly, contiguous to and in a.directionopposite to the rotation of the ,gin saws and removing trashand extraneous matter from the cotton lint collected by the gin sawteeth.

3. In a cotton gin including a roll box, a gin rib and railconstruction, in combination with a plurality of gin saws, said ribhaving a headportion formed on its upper end, a passage in the headportion, said passage being directed angularly downwardly into spacedducts, each duct having an angular side'opening outwardly of the ribsentering the roll box, said rail having an opening communicating withsaid rib passage,

said'rail, and a plurality of rotary gin saws adapted to convey lintbetween said ribs; means for directing fluid under pressure against thesaws in a direction opposite their direction of rotasaw teethpassbetween the ribs; but before passing out 0f the roll box, wherebytrash and other extraneous materialare removed from the lintwithoutremoval of the Ilint from,the

saws;

5-. Amethodof freeing lint fibers frorn extraneous matter as thelint iscarried-upon rotary gin saws operating between stationary gin ribs' inpassing from the roll box, which comprises.

blowing fluid under pressure against the lint at approximately the pointwhere the. saw teeth pass between the gin ribs but beforerpassing out ofthe roll box, and ma direction opposite to the direction of rotation ofthe ginsaws.

. V PRESSLEY EARLHOPP R.

tion at points adjacent the pointswhereth tgin

